Hair braiding and weaving accessory

ABSTRACT

A hair braiding and weaving accessory for holding 1-7 packs or bundles of commercial or artificial hair while the hairstylist is braiding or weaving selected small groups of such commercial or artificial hair with a customer&#39;s natural hair. The device comprises a base, a pole and a disc. The pole is attached to the base in a conventional manner. The disc has a hole through the middle, the pole is placed through the hole and positioned towards the top of the pole. The plane of the disc is at an angle of approximately forty five (45°) degrees to the pole to allow the commercial or artificial hair to be draped around the pole without falling off the disc. The height of the pole and disc is adjustable.

PRIORITY

This application is a Divisional application of pending U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/364,445 filed on Feb. 11, 2003 which is acontinuation-in-part of now abandoned U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/864,047 filed on May 24, 2001.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a hair braiding and hairweaving accessory for the braiding and weaving of commercial orartificial hair, more particularly, to a device and method which allowsa hairstylist to place commercial or artificial hair on a stand,alleviating the need to either place the artificial hair on a counter,chair, over the hairstylist's shoulder or for an assistant to hold thehair while the hairstylist braids or weaves the artificial hair into thecustomers natural hair.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Today it is common for people to enhance their natural hair byartificial means. One method is to braid or weave commercial orartificial hair to a person's natural hair to give the person's hair afuller or longer look. The commercial or artificial hair added to aperson's natural hair may significantly change the appearance of thatperson. A person with very short hair may be given the appearance ofhaving very long or thicker fuller hair when the commercial orartificial hair is inserted or added correctly.

The common procedure for braiding or weaving artificial hair to aperson's natural hair is time consuming and may take anywhere from 2 to10 hours to complete. The braiding or weaving of the commercial orartificial hair is performed by taking a small group of strands of thecommercial or artificial hair from a pack of hair which is to be addedto the customer's natural hair and then each small group is separatelybraided, interwoven, sewn in, fused or glued with a desired amount ofthe customer's natural hair in a small area of the customers scalp. Adesired amount of strands of commercial or artificial hair is used ineach group to give a more realistic appearance to the resultingcombination of artificial and natural hair. Between 1 and 6 packs orbundles of commercial or artificial hair are typically used whenlengthening or thickening a full head of hair.

During the braiding or weaving process, the entire pack of commercial orartificial hair must be kept clean, organized, controlled and untangled.The working area of a hairstylist does not allow for the placement ofcommercial or artificial hair where it will remain clean, organized,controlled and untangled. Currently, the only areas for placement of thecommercial or artificial hair are the narrow counters at each hairstyling station, a chair or over the hairstylist's shoulders. Thecounter is normally limited in space, covered with other hair stylingproducts contaminated with spillage of the hairstyling products. Thelimitation in space on a counter, chair or hairstylist's shouldersforces the hairstylist to fold and tangle the artificial hair. Thiscauses the commercial or artificial hair to become tangled, unorganized,uncontrolled and unsanitary. Once these conditions occur, the hairbecomes unusable and must be discarded.

It is difficult, and at times impossible for the hairstylist braiding orweaving in the commercial or artificial hair to ones natural hair tohold the entire pack or bundle of commercial or artificial hair duringthe braiding or weaving process. Until the present invention, fewoptions were available for holding the pack or bundle of commercial orartificial hair awaiting braiding or weaving. One option was for thehairstylist to have an assistant hold the bundle of commercial orartificial hair while the hairstylist braids or weaves a small group ofcommercial or artificial strands selected from the pack or bundle. Thisoption has very obvious draw backs. Either the consumer or hair stylistwill have to absorb the cost of having a person hold artificial hair foran extended period during braiding or weaving. Holding the pack orbundle is both tiring and stressful since the hair must be held in amanner which prevents the hair from touching the ground or becomingtangled. Another option is to have the customer hold the hair during thebraiding or weaving procedure. This option is irritating and tiring tothe customer.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a hair braiding and weaving accessory forholding 1-7 packs or bundles of commercial or artificial hair while thehairstylist is braiding or weaving selected small groups of suchcommercial or artificial hair with a customer's natural hair. Theaccessory is configured such that a bundle of commercial or artificialhair may be draped around it in such a manner as to prevent tangling,falling or soiling.

The device comprises a base, a pole and a disc. The pole is attached tothe base in a conventional manner. The disc has a hole through themiddle, the pole is placed through the hole and positioned towards thetop of the pole. The plain of the disc is at an angle of approximatelyforty five (45) degrees to the pole to allow commercial or artificialhair to be draped around the pole without falling off the disc. Theheight of the pole and disc is adjustable.

During use, the hairstylist places multiple packs or bundles of hair onthe hair braiding and weaving accessory prior to the start of thebraiding or weaving process by placing the hair around the pole on topof the disk. As the hairstylist requires more strands of artificial hairto braid or weave with the person's natural hair, he/she removes thedesired number of strands and braids or weaves the strands with thecustomer's natural hair.

The hair weaving accessory has several alternative embodiments. Onealternative embodiment is the use of notched tabs around the edge of thedisc. The notches allow the hairstylist to have pre-divided groups ofstrands which were divided prior to the start of the braiding or weavingprocess. Such pre-division is beneficial because it assures that thesame amount of artificial hair is used in each section of the person'snatural hair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an artificial hair braiding and weavingaccessory with artificial hair positioned thereon;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the accessory of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the artificialhair braiding and weaving accessory with a table top adaptable base;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the accessory of FIG. 1 having a notcheddisc; and

FIG. 5 is a close up view of the notches in the embodiment of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a hair weaving accessory 10 having a floor base 20, atelescopically adjustable pole 30 and an angled disc 40 in accordancewith the present invention. The base 20 and pole 30 are connected usingany conventional means. The pole 30 may be formed from a single elementhaving a fixed length but it is preferred for the pole 30 to becomprised of two elements 31, 32 to allow the pole to be adjustable inheight. The lower section 31 is hollow having an internal diametergreater than the external diameter of the upper section 32, this allowsthe upper section 32 to slide freely in the lower section 31. The heightof the pole 30 is adjusted by varying the length of the upper section 32positioned in the lower section 31. Different locking mechanisms may beused to hold the upper section 32 in the desired position. In thepreferred embodiment, the height is adjusted using a twist locking cam50 to lock the upper and lower sections 31, 32 at a desired height. Itshould be noted that additional sections may be used with each sectionhaving its own locking cam 50.

As seen in FIG. 2, the disc 40 of the present invention is attached tothe pole 32 by hollow sleeve 60 which slides over the upper section 32of the pole 30. The sleeve 60 is attached to the disc 40. The disc 40has a hole towards its center which is aligned with the hollow sleeve60, allowing the upper section 32 to be placed through both the sleeve60 and the disc 40. The sleeve 60 and disc 40 is held in position on theupper section 32 by a screw 70, to prevent the disc 40 from rotating orspinning during use. As seen in FIGS. 1-4, the disc 40 is fixed to thesleeve 60 at an angle of approximately 45 degrees.

During use, the height of the disc 40 may be adjusted by two means. Oneis by moving the sleeve 60 and the disc 40. Such movement isaccomplished by turning the screw 70 to loosen, adjusting the positionof the sleeve 60 and then tightening the screw 70 at the final positionto hold the disc 40 in place. As previously discussed, the height of thedisc 40 may also be adjusted by changing the height of the pole 30 bymeans of sections 31, 32 and the locking cam 50. The two forms ofadjustment are necessary to allow the upper section 32 to extend abovethe top of the disc 40.

As seen most clearly in FIG. 3 an alternate embodiment contains a tablemounting base 22. The table mounting base 22 allows the hairstylist tomount the hair braiding and weaving accessory 10 on a table, counter topor chair by sliding the table mounting base 22 over the edge of a table,counter top or chair and turning the tightening screw 24 to hold thehair braiding and weaving accessory 10 in place. While the tighteningscrew 24 is the preferred embodiment for the table mounting base 22version of the present invention, several other commonly knownalternatives may be used. For example, a lever may be used to apply theforce necessary to mount the table mounting base 22 to a table, countertop or chair. Also, the table mounting base 22 may consist of a flangepermanently attached to a table.

During use, the hairstylist will open one to several packages ofcommercial or artificial hair 100 and place them on the hair braidingand weaving accessory 10 around the upper section 32 of the pole 30protruding above the disc 40. The upper section 32 protruding throughthe top of the disc 40 prevents the commercial or artificial hair 100from falling off the disc 40. The length of the upper section 32 whichextends beyond the top of the disc 40 will depend on the amount ofcommercial or artificial hair 100 the hairstylist wishes to place on thehair braiding and weaving accessory 10. When more commercial orartificial hair 100 is placed on the hair braiding and weaving accessory10, the hairstylist will need a longer length of the upper section 32 toextend beyond the top of the disc 40. With experience, the hairstylistwill determine the optimal length of the upper section 32 necessary toprotrude through the top of the disc 40. The hairstylist will thenremove a small number of strands of the commercial or artificial hair100 from the hair braiding and weaving accessory 10. The hairstylistthen takes the removed strands of artificial hair and braids or weavesthem into the person's natural hair. Once the hairstylist has completedbraiding or weaving the removed strands of commercial or artificialhair, he/she reaches to remove another small number of strands from thecommercial or artificial hair 100 located on the hair braiding andweaving accessory 10. The process is repeated until the hairstylist hascompleted braiding or weaving the commercial or artificial hair 100 intothe customer's natural hair.

The commercial or artificial hair 100 is prevented from falling off thehair braiding and weaving accessory 10 because the disc 40 is mounted atan angle. The angle should be great enough to hold the commercial orartificial hair 100 around the upper section 32. The preferred angle isbetween 35 degrees and 50 degrees. This ensures that the commercial orartificial hair 100 is held together and the hairstylist need not spendtime gathering the hair each time he/she reaches for a small bundle ofstrands of the artificial hair 100.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, as seen in FIG. 4,the top of the disc 40 has cutouts or notches 44 forming tabs 42, thetabs 42 are formed around the rim of disc 40. During the braiding orweaving of a person's hair, the hairstylist would normally grab a fewstrands of commercial or artificial hair from a pack or bundle forbraiding or weaving. If the alternate embodiment is used, thehairstylist separates the commercial or artificial hair into pre-dividedsmall groups of strands to save time during braiding or weaving. Theembodiment in FIG. 4 keeps such pre-divided small groups separated. Eachpre-divided small group is positioned in a separate notch 44 on the disc40.

FIG. 5 is a close-up view of the notches 44 located on the rim of thedisc 40 in the alternate embodiment. Each notch is formed having a basewall 45 located towards the portion of the notch furthest away from therim of the disc 40. The side walls of the notch have a lower wall 47 andan upper wall 48. The lower wall 47 must be angled such that an inverted“v” 49 is formed between the lower wall 47 and the base wall 45. Whencommercial or artificial hair 100 is placed in the notch 44, thecommercial or artificial hair 100 slides between the lower wall 47 andthe base wall 45 and is wedged in the inverted “v” 49. The positioningof the commercial or artificial hair 100 between the base wall 45 andthe lower wall 47 prevents the commercial or artificial hair 100 fromsliding out of the notch 44.

It is understood that the present embodiment described above is to beconsidered as illustrative and not restrictive. It will be obvious tothose skilled in the art to make various changes, alterations andmodifications to the invention described herein. To the extent thatthese variations, modifications and alterations depart from the scopeand spirit of the appended claims, they are intended to be encompassedtherein.

1. A method for braiding or weaving commercial or artificial hair intothe natural hair of a person, the method comprising the steps of:mounting a pole in an upright position on a base; mounting a disc on thepole, at a point spaced from the top of the pole, and at an anglerelative to the axis of the pole ,such that one half of the disc isfurther away from the base than the other half, thereby forming a recessbetween the portion of the pole extending above the disc and the half ofthe disc that is further away from the base; placing the commercial orartificial hair around the portion of the pole extending above the discand into the recess such that it is supported on the disc; removing thecommercial or artificial hair from the recess as required duringbraiding or weaving; and braiding or weaving the commercial orartificial hair removed from the disc into the natural hair of theperson.
 2. A method for braiding or weaving commercial or artificialhair into the natural hair of a person, the method comprising the stepsof: mounting a pole in an upright position on a base; mounting a disc,including a rim with a section having a plurality of spaced notches, onthe pole, at an angle relative to the axis of the pole, with the notchedrim section of the disc situated away from the base; separating thecommercial or artificial hair into bundles, placing each of the bundlesinto a different one of the notches of the notched rim portion of thedisc, removing the bundles, one at a time, from the notches as requiredduring braiding or weaving: and braiding or weaving the commercial orartificial hair into the nature hair of the person, one bundle at atime.